Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Critical Thinking is the ability to reflect and think independently in order to make thoughtful decisions. Critical thinking helps you better understand yourself, your motivations, and goals. It’s not just an important skill to master for your wellbeing; it’s also one of the top requirements for most career paths.
Critical thinking skills help us make good decisions, understand the consequences of our actions, and solve problems. These skills also help us think creatively – or “outside the box.” We are constantly in need of new and better ideas, especially when it comes to creative problem solving.
The world is changing faster than ever and through all the excitement, we must be able to assess new situations properly, handle challenges that arise, and think with an innovative mindset – the ability to come up with new ideas and novel approaches to problems. It’s important to understand that boosting your critical thinking, creative and innovative abilities take practice. Recognizing and developing these important skills is a process. Through a m mixture of motivating videos, engaging readings and fun assignments, this course will help you recognize, develop and act upon the creativity and critical thinking skills that you already possess.
This course is ideal for you if you are interested in learning specific techniques to improve your critical thinking and creativity, define and solve tough problems, generate new ideas, and take your ideas from thoughts to reality.
ASSIGNMENTS AND COMPLETION CERTIFICATE
In addition to the in-person meetings that will take place on Saturday and Sunday, this class will include pre-assignments and post-assignments as part of the 36-hour class.
You will be invited to join Google Classroom 2 weeks before class starts, which is the platform we use for our class. Check your spam folder, as invitations to join Google Classroom sometimes end up there. Please make sure you register for the course with a valid email address, since this is where you will receive the invitation and later, your certificate. Your email has to be Google compatible, so it’s best to use gmail, outlook, hotmail or yahoo. If you do not receive a notification to join Google Classroom, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to contact us.
The pre-assignments will be posted on Google Classroom 2 weeks before class starts. Make sure you join Google Classroom early and complete the assignments BEFORE coming to class. It will take you approximately 9 hours to complete.
The post-assignments will be posted on Google Classroom on the weekend of class, and also consist of 9 hours. You must complete them in order to receive your course completion certificate. Course completion certificates will be emailed to you, a few days after the official class end date. Class end date is 2 weeks after the in-person portion of the class, and after you have completed the follow-up assignments. If you need your certificate earlier, please indicate it during the registration process and we will email it to you as soon as you have successfully completed all assignments.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is mandatory Saturday and Sunday. If you are late or leave early, you will not receive a course completion certificate. Please note, that this is a weekend intensive class and the days are long. We expect you to come to class well rested and ready to participate.
$295 | ** IN-PERSON ** | 36 hours (equivalent to 3 credits)
Saturday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
ONLINE FORMAT
This class will consist of readings, assignments and group discussions posted on Google Classroom and a few scheduled Zoom sessions (Zoom is a video conference app). Both of these platforms are free and easy to use. You will be invited to join Google Classroom about a week before class starts. Check your junk mailbox, as invitations to join Google Classroom sometimes end up there. Please make sure you register for the course with a valid email address, since this is where you will receive an invitation notification to join Google Classroom. Your email has to be Google Classroom compatible, so it’s best if you use Gmail, Hotmail or yahoo. If you do not receive a notification, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to contact us.
There is NO pre-assignment for the online class. You might however be asked by your instructor, a few days in advance, to prepare a little bit for the first zoom meeting. The course syllabus, all readings and assignments will be posted on Google Classroom before the first zoom meeting.
You will attend the Zoom sessions by going to zoom.us and clicking “Join Meeting.” You will then enter a meeting ID number that will be provided to you. You can join via a computer, iPad or phone! We would prefer to see you, but if you do not have a camera on your computer, that’s ok. You can join via audio only. There is also an option to call in from your phone, in case your computer audio has any trouble connecting.
$250 | ** ONLINE ** | 36 hours (equivalent to 3 credits)
Contact Information
Office of Continuing Education
161 Newkirk Street, Room E504
Jersey City, NJ 07306
(201) 360-4224
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